Houston Regional notebook

Princeton, which actually has a College World Series appearance back in 1951 (with losses to USC 4-1 and Tennessee 3-2), has not won a playoff game since a 4-3 victory against Rider in 1965. Since then, the Tigers have been in three regionals, going 0-2 each time.

"I know we come from an Ivy League school, but we didn't come here for moral victories," a disappointed Jon Watterson said. "Initially we wanted to put on a good show, but after the first inning it was all about winning."

Princeton's run in the ninth inning against Tech kept the Tigers avoided being held scoreless for the first time since last season.

The Tigers were last shut out on April 11, 1999, by a 2-0 score in the first game of a doubleheader against Dartmouth.

The shutout would have been the first for the Red Raiders since a 13-0 victory at Missouri on March 7 of last year.

By turning a double play in the eighth, the Raiders set a single-season school record for twin killings with 64.

Tech left fielder Jason Rainey's strikeout in the third was his 67th of the season, tying him with teammate Miles Durham for the single-season record. Durham set the mark as a freshman in 1998.

Tech starter Cory Metzler has allowed just one earned run in his past 15 innings. He has also given up just three walks in his past 23 innings.

The 10 runs scored by Tech were the most in a game since a 15-12 come-from-behind victory against Texas-San Antonio on May 3. It was the most runs scored by Tech since the Raiders eliminated Texas A&M from the Big 12 Tournament 8-6.

Princeton head coach Scott Bradley credited the Tech fans with actually helping his team instead of hurting it.

"Their fans made it a lot of fun," Bradley said. "As the game went on, our kids really enjoyed the atmosphere even though we didn't have as many people in the stands as we did last night. The Texas Tech fans loosened us up and made us laugh and relax as much as anything."

Normally, Princeton is not allowed by Ivy League rules to start it season until right around spring break. But thanks to some scheduling quirks next season, the Tigers will get an early start.

That start, however, will come in three games at Oklahoma State, one of the Big 12's perennially top teams.